#phillip001

The court was packed from wall-to-wall with people who had come to celebrate the coronation. It was funny how a few days before, everyone had been dressed in morning clothes and clutching rosaries. Now they were all very different people indeed. Perhaps it was the effect of a young new King - a fresh start, and fresh opportunities for power - that had the mood immediately jovial. Sarah felt it, riding the wave of excitement as people feasted and danced the night away - and she loved it.

Wine had loosened her spirits and her tongue, and she had found several dance partners, but they had all been fleeting interests. She was searching for the next partner when the Duke of Warwick caught her eye. How could he not? He was perhaps the tallest man she had ever seen, finely dressed, and despite everything - the fact he was a married man most of all - she found herself approaching him with a smile, breaking decorum as she spoke.

“Would you dance with me, Your Grace?”